


questions of legality

by matskreider



Series: tumblr prompts [11]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, also yes chris has an eyebrow piercing, chris is a jurisprudence major with some feelings; mats tries to support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 11:26:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13763136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matskreider/pseuds/matskreider
Summary: Chris is face down in his pile of papers spread on either side of him. His water bottle is halfway filled up for the fourth time that afternoon, but he has almost three cups of coffee surrounding him so it almost doesn’t count.Mats isn’t one to pass judgment though. He’s got some Poptart wrappers in his backpack, and a few bags of Swedish fish hidden in the depths as well (sue him, they’re good candy.) His own water bottle, sticker covered and well worn, is filled more than halfway, and while he hasn’t had any coffee yet, the sugar in his system has him fidgeting his highlighter so fast it’s just a blue blur between his fingers.Chris groans into the mahogany, the groan turning into a small sob. “Why did I do this to myself?”“Because you think you can change the world, if you try hard enough,” Mats answers, already knowing the context without further explanation.





	questions of legality

**Author's Note:**

> it's....it's been a hot minute since i've posted anything, but i hope that this makes up for the time?? idk, have a fluffy little bit of nonsense that's driven by recent events haha

 

Chris is face down in his pile of papers spread on either side of him. His water bottle is halfway filled up for the fourth time that afternoon, but he has almost three cups of coffee surrounding him so it almost doesn’t count.

Mats isn’t one to pass judgment though. He’s got some Poptart wrappers in his backpack, and a few bags of Swedish fish hidden in the depths as well (sue him, they’re good candy.) His own water bottle, sticker covered and well worn, is filled more than halfway, and while he hasn’t had any coffee yet, the sugar in his system has him fidgeting his highlighter so fast it’s just a blue blur between his fingers.

Chris groans into the mahogany, the groan turning into a small sob. “Why did I do this to myself?”

“Because you think you can change the world, if you try hard enough,” Mats answers, already knowing the context without further explanation.

“It’s just,” Chris continues, now finally lifting his head. He furrows his brows in a way that’s both betraying how frustrated he is, but also makes the piercing flash a little bit in the café lighting. “Like. This country is going to shit. Nobody cares about anything. I don’t  _ want  _ to be just another cis white guy entering politics, even if I am from a liberal city. But like, because I don’t want to be that, I will never get far enough to make real change. We’ll still have fuck wads like this in office, who need to literally be hand held through how to be empathetic to others. Like, I don’t know how to explain to them that they should care about other people. I just don’t.”

Mats sighs and caps his highlighter, reaching over and putting his hand on top of Chris’. “I know it’s frustrating. But you’re doing the best you can. You’re in undergrad, no one expects you to have your whole life sorted out.”

“ _ You  _ did when you were in undergrad,” Chris grouses.

“Yeah, but being an econ major is a little bit different than being a jurisprudence and women’s studies double major,” Mats explains for the umpteenth time. “And if I had listened to my gut I-”

“Wouldn’t be an econ major but would be ‘happily engaged in Russian studies, fist fighting your way through all of the novels and discourse available,’ I know, babe.”

Mats gives him a wry look. “So just settle down, and continue doing the rest of your readings. Anger only helps you so far. Right now, it’s not doing you any favors, and it’s just distracting you. You can online shop afterwards if you want, de-stress and all that.”

Chris grumbles something about how capitalism is destroying America, but he puts his head down and continues anyway. For about five minutes, anyhow.

“…What if I just kill the President?”

“You can’t do that.”

“Yes, I can! And they wouldn’t be able to trace it back to me because corporations always want to cover their tracks so no one would even see it coming!”

Mats rubs his temples, looking up at Chris’ maniacal grin through his lashes. “…Explain how corporations factor into your murder plot.”

“The idiot in chief visits McDonalds way too often for anyone’s tastes, right? So I’ll just get a job there, put a little bit of arsenic in his soda, and boom. Instant death.”

“That’s…how exactly do you think that you’re going to get ahold of that material?”

“Gonna borrow some from Jimmy in the chem department. He has the clearance to do so.”

“Oh, you’re not going to just steal some?”

“Now  _ that  _ would be illegal.”

Mats throws his hands in the air, laughing. “Literally everything about this is illegal!”

Chris starts laughing too, his adorable snort laugh that means he’s genuinely amused. “Well yeah, but I have to draw the line somewhere!”

At this point, Mats notices that they’re starting to get looks from some of the other people in the café. He puts his head in his hands and mumbles, “Maybe having this conversation in D.C. isn’t the best idea.”

“But how else am I supposed to sniff out who’s on my side?”

“I think the whole country is on your side, aside from those who very vocally are not,” Mats mutters through his fingers.

“Hmph. I’ll just ask Susan to double check.”

“Yes, I’m sure your hidden FBI lady in your computer is the one who will reveal herself and help us all.”

Chris just gives him a sunny smile, and Mats groans. One of these days his boyfriend is going to wind up on an FBI watchlist, if he wasn’t already.

**Author's Note:**

> hit me up on [tumblr](http://www.matskreider.tumblr.com/) if u wanna talk more


End file.
